We bring the community together to work toward racial justice by supporting our neighbors and transforming inequitable systems.
How We Do Our Work
Together, we are working toward a racially just community where all people have homes, students graduate and families are financially stable.
We work to accomplish this in two key ways: transforming systems and meeting immediate needs.
When we examine the needs across King County, the disparities are clear: Black, Indigenous and other people of color disproportionately experience poverty, homelessness and lack of educational opportunity. We work actively with the communities we serve to change the systems that continue to create these disparate needs.
Together, we are advocating for policies that promote our community’s ability to thrive, especially our Black, Indigenous and other communities of color. We know that change has to be driven by listening to the needs and solutions identified by the people closest to the issues.
Committed to Racial Equity
United Way of King County is on a racial equity journey. We envision equitable and just communities where all people thrive. Systemic racism has caused our already unfair world to become even more inequitable. The only solution is to join with community and dismantle these racist systems that are at the root of the issues.
Fighting Homelessness
Seattle and King County are in the midst of an affordable housing crisis. We’re all impacted by the crisis and we believe that all members of our community deserve safe, secure and affordable housing. We have a strong focus on preventing homelessness because the best way to end it is to prevent it from happening in the first place.
Helping Students Graduate
We believe that income, ZIP code and race shouldn’t define success in school. But right now, they do. We’re helping students graduate because we know that, for an individual or household, education is the best way to avoid or escape poverty.
Breaking the Cycle of Poverty
Rising prices and impacts of inflation are not equal for everyone. Systemic racism ensures that it hits communities of color—those who’ve already shouldered a disproportionate burden during the pandemic—the hardest. While we work to change the very systems that cause these injustices in the first place, the need is great now. Because of this, we help people get on stable financial ground so they can work toward a better future.
What’s Ahead for United Way?
Read our Strategic Roadmap here.